Less than two weeks after Hurricane Harvey made landfall along the Texas coast, Florida residents and businesses braced themselves as Hurricane Irma hit the Sunshine State on September 10. A total has yet to be determined for the damages that Irma caused, but the entire state of Florida, as well as parts of Georgia and South Carolina, were affected by the storm. Texas Governor Greg Abbott estimates that damage from Hurricane Harvey will be $150 billion to $180 billion—more costly than the epic Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans in 2005, or Hurricane Sandy, which hit the East Coast in 2012.
Hurricane Irma’s damages in Florida caused the upcoming annual meeting of the Florida Rental Dealers Association in Tampa, scheduled for next week, to be postponed. Click here for details.
APRO urges rent-to-own professionals to contribute to the association’s RTO Employee Disaster Relief Fund so that victims of Hurricanes Irma and Harvey—specifically, employees in the rent-to-own industry—can get the help they need. Please encourage employees to contribute, as well. A small contribution will make a big difference and will demonstrate yet again that the RTO industry strives to secure the good of others. To contribute to APRO’s RTO Employee Disaster Relief Fund, click here or contact Tulisha Wendele at 800/204-2776, ext. 111, info@rtohq.org.
If any of your employees have been personally displaced or suffered damages due the recent hurricanes and their aftermath, notify APRO as soon as possible. We can help. To begin the process of determining eligibility for disaster relief and potential disbursement, contact APRO’s Richard May, at 800/204-2776, ext. 104, rmay@rtohq.org, after contacting the owner of the company for which you work. Or click here to complete APRO’s RTO Employee Disaster Relief Fund application.